Getting Cricky - You are....

Brilliant!

Happy Thursday everyone! I have a really quick card for you today. Things are really hectic right now and it's difficult to spend a lot of time making a card.  K Andrew Designs stamps make it really easy to make a great, and really quick, card. I used the "Amazing you" stamp set for the sentiment. The banner is a die. I threw the packaging away and don't remember who made it, sorry. The paper is from is one of my new favorite packs, Loolah.

I continued the thought on the inside of the card and added a border punched with a Martha Stewart punch along the bottom. It's from the same paper as the background on the front of the card. 

Here are the stamps I used. There are some left that you can find at K Andrew Designs.

I hope everyone has a great day and enjoys the upcoming weekend!

Simply Sunday Fall

 I'm not leaving this till the last minute this time. Sadly it will be the last Simply Sunday challenge at Getting Cricky:( I don't know what the next chapter will be, but I think we'll find out soon. The theme for the challenge is Happy Fall Ya'll. I decided to take advantage of the Cricut Craft Room freebie for the week, a sneak peek at CAC2, and make this cute squirrel cut at 3.5". He's on an Action Wobble and doesn't want to stay straight, oh well. You can sort of see him in action below.

The paper is mostly stash except the patterned piece. It's from a pad I got at TJ Maxx recently and I'm pretty sure it's K and Co. It's double sided and that's just one sheet (plaid and leaves). The ribbon is May Arts 3/8" double sided satin in pink and gold. The pumpkin is a Martha Stewart punch and stamp I also pick up at TJ Maxx.  The sentiment is from the K Andrew Designs Fall-O-Ween stamp set that you can find here. It's a pretty basic card but will be fairly easy to mail.

Guest Designer at Getting Cricky - Positively Zentangled

I am beyond thrilled (and more than a little nervous) to be guest designing at Getting Cricky. Kristal is wonderful and I absolutely adore her stamps! I was invited to do this tutorial based on a card I posted on Facebook which incorporated a Zentangle and a K Andrew Designs stamp.

If you are not familiar with Zentangle you can find more information and inspiration here. It is a very relaxing, meditative process, and the best thing is...there are NO mistakes in Zentangle! You will see what I mean as you read on.

Blank square

A Zentangle is traditionally started on a 3.5" x 3.5" square of Bristol paper with a vellum finish. I used a square of white cardstock for this project to show that you can use other types of paper. The real secret to a successful project is the pen. A Sakura micron pen is the preferred pen, and there is good reason. The pen tips are very fine and the ink flows very smoothly. If you are going to invest in anything special to do Zentangle, the pen is the thing to buy. You can also use a #2 or 2B pencil to draw the string (if you use one) and shade your work.

Outer string

Inner string

The next step in the process is to draw a string. It forms a foundation for you piece and gives you open spaces in which
to place different Tangles.

This is the beginning of a Tangle called the Auraknot. I decided it wasn't enough of a focal point on the card so, although I will use it on something later, I chose to make a new piece with a larger image in the center.

 This is the new beginning. Notice there is a place that looks like a mistake on the base figure. Remember the part about "no mistakes", well it turned into the inspiration for another part of the image.

 This is the finished Auraknot. For a detailed video on how to complete this Tangle go to the Zentangle blog here. They show several variations of the basic version I used.

 I chose several different Tangles and began to fill in the outside of the image. Each image will lead you where it wants to go, and will all turn out unique. This piece has an earth, sky, sea feel to it because of the outer elements.

 Here is the finished Zentangle. There are six different tangles in this picture. The one in the center is called Puf, and it's almost magical. You'd never guess is was going to turn out the way it does when you start. If you want to find more tangles check out tanglepatterns.com.

 When I finished I cut the image out with a Spellbinders Labels one die. I decided I liked the paper I was using to take the pictures on so I used it for the background of my card. I cut it slightly smaller than my 4" x 5.5" base and rounded the corners to mimic the corners of the image.

 I cut a square of black cardstock at 3.75" x 3.75", rounded the corners using my corner chomper, and glued the image to it with my ATG gun. The whole piece was attached to the card base with two strips of foam tape.

 The card was finished with a sentiment from the K Andrew Designs Positive Thoughts stamp set. That is really one of my go to sets. It's so versatile, and we all need a little positive energy now and then! It was stamped on white cardstock and backed with a scrap of the same black I used for the image. The final touches are some vintage seam binding from Wild Orchid Crafts and a couple of self-adhesive bling from my stash.  (Remember the mistake? If you look close you can see it, but barely, in the upper left quadrant of the Zentagle used as a branch.)

Here's another example of something you can do with Zentagle. This image was stamped with the Coffee Time image set, and the Coffee & Tea for you & me sentiment set, both from K Andrew Designs. I stamped the cup and started tangling. There are four tangles in the cup. It's a very plain tag (great stamps, no embellishment), the tangles just dress it up.      

Christmas card

The challenge this week at Christmas Card Challenge is "Sentiment only".  I think I got a little too literal with it, I'm not completely pleased.  It's an A2 size card.  The patterned paper is from the Scandia Jul paper pack by GCD studios (Rob and Bob).  The solid is stash paper that I've had for a long time.  The punch at the top is a Martha Stewart border punch.  I used my corner chomper on 2 of the sentiment corners and inked around the edges of the white with the same ink I stamped the greeting in (also Martha Stewart).  [I think it needs some more].  The sentiment is on some thin foam tape circles that I picked up at Tuesday Morning.  I used my ATG gun for the rest of the card.

The sentiment is from the K Andrew designs Winter Wishes set.  It is a mix and match set so you can make all sort of sentiments by using one set.  The flourish on the corner is in the set as well.  


I think I will add some other embellishments before I actually use the card.  It needs some bling or something.

Found Paper

The current challenge at A Day For Daisies is to use found paper, not paper from your stash.  I used some tissue paper that was in a Christmas gift.  I crumpled it more than it was and sprayed it with Art Co. glitter spray in gold and copper.  I heat set it so it would dry quickly.  It looks a little bit purple in person (less pink than the picture) so I backed the image with some purple vellum.  The flower was made from a scrap of the tissue as well.  To place the image, I twisted the tissue paper and taped the image to it.  The tissue flattened a little in the photography process, but it would in an envelope so I just left it.  I colored the image with Promarkers (blush, tan, ivory, sandstone, baby pink, lemon, ice grey 1).  The background was embossed with a Darice embossing folder (swirls I think).  I like the size of them, but it didn't leave quite as deep an emboss as some of the other folders I've used.  The sentiment is from the "Fashionable Friends" K Andrew designs stamp set.  The ink used for the sentiment and around the image is Distress Ink.

Simply Sunday at Getting Cricky - Give Thanks

Well, it's been almost a month since I posted anything. There's been a lot going on. I have made some things but haven't felt like posting, I think it's time.

The theme at Getting Cricky for this Simply Sunday challenge is give thanks. We were supposed to show something we were thankful for. Last week was my birthday and a friend organized a birthday lunch one day at school. This is for her to thank her for everything she does for me.

This is an A2 size card. The paper is K and Co. The ribbon is from Walmart. The ink is a combination of the two greens in Tim Holtz' winter collection (check out blitsy.com if you haven't already, some great deals and fast service), and the flowers were cut from the Flower Shoppe cartridge. I think I'm really going to like it! The stamps are proof of the versatility of K Andrew Designs stamps. They are from the Winter Wishes set and it's decidedly not a winter looking card. I hope everyone is having a good pre-holiday season.

Elizabeth Mae's challenge from 10-2

The challenge at Elizabeth Mae's this week was to use hearts. I chose to use one of her digis and just color the hat (with a Promarker). The hearts are punched from DCWV glitter paper. (It's pretty flat so it would be really easy to mail.) The sentiment is from the K Andrew Designs Fashionable Friends set. The black and white paper is a scrap from my stash (I should know who it's from but don't remember).

Simply Sunday from 9/25

I'm not doing my best work lately, don't know what's going on for sure. This card is for the Simply Sunday challenge at Getting Cricky. It was supposed to be fall related so I made this card that I will probably stick in the mail and send to my mom (she's in a nursing home) or a friend of hers (mine too) who is feeling her age lately. She's in her upper 80's so that can be a lot to feel some days (she would appreciate the play on words, promise!). The paper is random pieces I pulled out of my scrap pile. The round stamp is one I found at Big Lots. It's from Inkadinkadoo. I used Kristal's Fall-O-Ween set inside the circle. Her stamps are clear plus they are mix and match. I put the stamps inside the circle and figured out where they looked best, then put the acrylic block on top and they stayed in just the right position. I used a glitter pen that Mary from Cardz TV showed a few weeks ago. It's really cool. I went over the flowers and the capital letters for a little extra shine on a pretty muted card. The brad is from the Eyelet Outlet. There is a little hook on the bottom that you can string things through. The ribbon is some old stuff I had around the house. (Yarn is a bad 4-letter word to my daughter, I have so much). The circles were cut with the scalloped circles Nestabilities die. (hate it when I spell stuff and it just looks wrong:( ) We're having a rainy weekend, which is great for crafting! Hope everyone has a good one.

CDAC progressive challenge 1 part 3

Better late than never seems to be my mantra of late. I think I may need to break out of this before it becomes a habit. This is the third part of the first CDAC progressive challenge. Confused? Head over there and check it out, it was really fun! The image is from Just Inklined and was given to the participants to use. I "antiqued" the card with distress ink. The ribbon looks really droopy in the picture and it's actually not too bad. The background paper is a combination of stash and DCWV. The stamp is from K Andrew Designs Fall-O-Ween stamp set. It's a mix and match set that can be used for all the fall holidays plus some.

MAG Challenge

The MAG challenge by the page this week was page 43 from the Forever Young cartridge. I have this one, yea! I went out of my comfort zone as far as colors this week. I don't use green a lot in my cards. The paper led this card. It is all from a DCWV mat stack. Unfortunately the cover is gone and I don't remember the name. All of the printed paper came from the same stack. The blue piece that the sentiment is stamped on is DCWV also. The black is Recollections. The green pieces on the top are cut from the same piece the dress is from. The girl is cut at 3 1/2". The circle behind her is a Nestabilities die that I embossed. I put Stickles on the dots to add some more glitter. The sentiment is from the K Andrew Designs Fashionable Friends stamp set. I'm glad I was able to participate this week!

CDAC progressive challenge Part 2b

This card is for the second part of the CDAC progressive challenge. The cute digi is by Linda Tieu at Tortagialla. It was colored with Promarkers. I used a Nestabilities die to cut around her and left it on while I inked the edges. It leaves that nice white frame around the image. The papers are from Recollections and DCWV. The star glitter and beads were from the Art Co. Michael's had them on clearance a couple of weeks ago so I stocked up. I used gold spray, also from Art Co., on her. It was a lesson learned. Never assume that two bottles of spray will work the same way, even if they're from the same company. Thankfully I was able to wipe some of the mess off without too much damage. The sentiment is from the K Andrew Designs Positive Thoughts stamp set.

Simply Sunday at Getting Cricky

The current challenge at Getting Cricky was to make a "winged thing". I used the Paisley cartridge to cut the cute little bee. It's cut at 3 1/2". The stamp is from K Andrew Designs Positive Thoughts set. I find myself going back to that particular set quite often. The patterned paper is a mix of K and Company, DCWV and some random pack I picked up at Tuesday Morning. There may be some Colorbok in there as well. The circles were cut with Nestabilities scalloped circle. Oh, the bling is from Creative Charms (thanks to Kristal's Ustream!). I'm also entering this into the Shopping our Stash challenge as it qualifies (the bling is new but I didn't buy it, the rest is stash stuff.)

Violin

The challenge at Shopping Our Stash this week was to use vellum or violet or violins. You could use one, two, or all three. Mine kind of uses 2 as there are some purplish shades involved as well as the violin.

I picked up the kraft card bases and matching envelopes at Michael's on Sunday as they were on clearance. I've never used these before so we'll see if I like them. The are A6 size (4.5 x 6.25) which is a little larger than I'm used to. I messed up one cut because I wasn't paying attention and just went back to what I usually do. Thank goodness I had enough left to fix it. The violin was cut from the Cricut Quarter Note cartridge at 3 1/2". The paper is from a Provo Craft Scrap pad that I've had for at least 5 years. This is a birthday card for a friend who just came back from Italy so I thought it was appropriate. The piece under the violin is a 4"x4" square that I dry embossed and then inked with a bronze colored ink. That part is better in person because there is a slight metallic shine to it that doesn't show up in the picture. The piece under the sentiment is glossy paper with alcohol ink on it. I tried to match the colors in the base paper. I've had them for months but it's the first time I've tried using them. I don't have any blending solution and think I need some.

Recipe:

Base: kraft premade base

Patterned paper: Provo Craft Scrap pad (something about Europe)

Cricut cartridge: Quarter Note (a must if you like music)

Cuttlebug folder: Moroccan

Sentiment: K Andrew Designs Positive Thoughts (another of her sentiments inside the cards says "Live the life you want")

Embellishments, etc.:

Viva Decor pearl pen, Martha Stewart (ink, pop dots, brown ribbon), misc. ribbon, Adirondack Alcohol ink, metal hot fix brad tops from Walmart.

Scrappy card

Becky at Squirly Girl Creations is having a challenge on her blog and I thought I'd give it a try. You have to only use scraps and you have to use a K Andrew Designs stamp. No problem there, I have plenty of scraps and love Kristal's stamps.

The paper is mostly from DCWV. I know the pink looks big but there are actually things cut out of it behind the flowered piece. The pink strip across the card is a piece of watercolor scrap that I inked with MS ink. I did the weaving and then cut it out with a spellbinder die. It shifted a little when I cut so the right side is a little messed up and I'm trying to figure out how to fix it. I may add some Stickles around it to cover the mistake. (If anybody has any other suggestions I'll take them.) I rounded the corners with my corner chomper (yes, one is different - on purpose). The stamp is from Kristal's Positive Thoughts set. Head over to Becky's blog if you want to play too!

Rocket boy

I had a hard time with this card and I'm not sure why. I took forever getting started on it, and after I did things just kept going wrong. We all have those days, I know, but they are a pain in the tush. The most disturbing thing was discovering that my I-Rock is broken :( I will be replacing that thing asap if I can't figure out a way to fix it (it's not the batteries). I use it too much not to have one. Enough lamenting, on to the card.....!

This card is for the Simply Sunday challenge at Getting Cricky. The theme was "Freedom isn't Free". (Part of the reason I was having a problem is that I don't have any Cricut Cartridges that have a military theme.) I hopped around to some of the other entrants for inspiration and got some ideas. I picked up some A2 cards on clearance at Michael's last week that came with the edges already pinked on the white layer so I used one of those. (I like the way it looked but the ribbon didn't like it so much, it didn't want to lay flat.) The colored paper is all Making Memories. The boy was cut at 2" from the A Child's Year cartridge. I used my Spellbinders scalloped circle for the circle shapes. The little gold stars are from Walmart (also clearance - I'm a sucker, can you tell?). I don't remember who the ribbon is by and I think it's on a plain white spool, not helpful. The stamp is from the K Andrew Designs Splashtastic Summer set. I find more things to use that set on, it's pretty amazing! The white paper has a texture to it and the stamp worked great. I used Memento ink in tuxedo black. I did use a sketch from Pagemaps for inspiration, I think I forgot to mention that earlier.

Whimsical melon

The challenge this week at Fantabulous Cricut Challenge Me Monday, the challenge is to make a project with a melon. I used the Simply Charmed cartridge to make the melon. I originally cut it at 3" but it was way too big for the card. This melon is 2 1/2". The melon paper is Colorbok, the polka dots is Making Memories and the plaid is from a DCWV self-adhesive pack I picked up at Ross for $$3.99 (they had some cute things a few weeks ago). The punches I used were both Martha Stewart. The sentiment is from K Andrew Designs Positive Thoughts stamp set. She just came out with 2 new sets, so check those out while you're there;) I used some Stickles to add a little bling. I also put the melon on an Action Wobble which definitely adds the whimsy! I tried to upload a video but it didn't work (uploaded but wouldn't play, alas). Oh well, moving on....it's a simple summery card. Have a great day!

Water themed challenge

This week at Fantabulous Cricut the challenge was to do a water themed project. Here is my entry. (I have to admit I'm getting really frustrated with blogger. I have to use IE to upload my pictures because they won't load on Google Chrome and then I have to go back to GC to post because IE won't let me post. EXTREMELY annoying. Almost makes a person want to give up this whole thing.)

Anyway, back to the card. Most of the cardstock is from Colorbok. I used the Disney Pixar cartridge for Nemo. The cuts on this Disney cart are a little more user friendly than some of the other cartridges. It's been fun to use so far (think it's time for a blade change, however). Nemo is cut at 3". The stamp is from K Andrew Designs. It's from the Splashtastic Summer set and is very cool because you can mix and match your sentiments (and they still look great!). I used blue Martha Stewart ink which doesn't show up well in the photo, but looks pretty cool in person. The little pearls in the corner are from Creative Charms. I used a white gel pen to do some outlining and a tiny amount of Viva Decor pearl pen on the bubbles. Thanks for looking:-)

Simply Sunday at Getting Cricky

The Simply Sunday challenge this week was a summer themed project. I'm not overly thrilled with my card, but really wanted to use my new Disney Pixar cartridge. Dory is perfect with the K Andrew sentiment I used. The card has a little added twist, it is a left-handed card. I made one by accident for another challenge but showed it to a friend anyway. She asked me to make her sister one, as she had complained recently that all cards open the same way and it wasn't fair to all the lefties out there. I am trying to keep that in mind now because my son is also a leftie and I never really thought about it before (bad mom:( ). The majority of the paper is from Colorbok. The vellum is Making memories and the yellow is the back of a random patterned paper. I cut Dory at 3 1/4". The vellum is embossed with a cuttlebug folder and the ends were punched with a Martha Stewart punch. The blue bubbles are from Creative Charms and the sentiment is from the K Andrew Designs Splashtastic Summer set. The little pearls on the bottom are Offray. I used Stickles on some of the embossed "bubbles" for a little extra sparkle.